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The Wonderful World of Esthetician School, Medical Esthetics, and Cosmetic Dermatology

The health and beauty industry is a growing, billion dollar industry that is made up of various skincare specialists. From estheticians to cosmetologists to medical estheticians to cosmetic dermatologists, there are many different opportunities to branch out–as long as you know what is involved in each different career.

Below we break it down into simple terms so you can choose the best route possible in order to advance your current career or to decide which part of the health and beauty marketplace would be a great starting point.

Esthetician School

Estheticians are skincare specialists involved in treating the epidermal layer of client’s skin. This means estheticians typically work in the health and beauty industry performing treatments like waxing, facials, masks, wraps, tweezing, peels, and more.

The Good: Esthetician school is great for those who are passionate about learning the best steps to improving skincare on various types of tones and textures. It’s also a great career path for those who envision themselves working in a spa setting.

The Not-So Good: Esthetician school typically takes 6-12 months complete. Although you learn how to improve skincare on the epidermal layer, you are not allowed to perform treatments that affect the dermal layer of skin.

Medical Esthetician School

Medical estheticians are those who have been trained to perform skin care treatments on the epidermal and dermal layers of skin. These beauty treatments may include laser hair removal, IPL photofacial skin rejuvenation, radiofrequency skin tightening, laser tattoo removal, laser acne removal, and many more.

The Good: Medical estheticians perform higher price-point treatments, thus they may earn more income than estheticians. Medical esthetician school also only takes two week to complete training and certification, launching you into the job market faster than esthetician school. As a medical esthetician, you can work in spas, doctor clinics, dermatology practices, medical spas, and more.

The Not-So Good: As a medical esthetician, you are working with advanced, state-of-the-art laser technology and thus must gain detailed, thorough training as to how to use this equipment in order to safely perform treatments on clients. National Laser Institute is the leading medical esthetics school in the nation and offers Laser Safety Officer Certification so that medical estheticians are fully knowledgeable about the safety and uses of each laser equipment.

Cosmetic Dermatology

Unlike dermatologists, cosmetic dermatologists are dedicated to providing an improvement in aesthetic appearance rather than treating medical illnesses revolving around the skin. These treatments can include cosmetic injectables like Botox, dermal fillers, sclerotherapy, and more, as well as cosmetic laser treatments like laser acne reduction, laser hair removal, etc.

The Good: Cosmetic dermatologists are capable of performing cosmetic injectables, which currently rank as the top most in-demand nonsurgical cosmetic treatments and have an incredibly high price point without the hassle of insurance. With the right training, cosmetic dermatologists can also do everything a medical esthetician and esthetician can do as well in order to offer their clients a vast amount of skincare treatment options.

The Not-So Good: You need a medical background to perform cosmetic injectables if you are thinking about entering the world of cosmetic dermatology.